Asia
Much of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and parts of Sarawak were affected on Tuesday (Aug 25), with authorities saying haze was moving in “from various directions”.
The Putra Mosque (left) and Malaysia’s Prime Minister’s Office shrouded in haze in Putrajaya on Aug 14, 2026, as authorities in Malaysia warned of high levels of air pollution from regional wildfires. (Photo: AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
25 Aug 2026 06:14PM
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded “unhealthy” air quality in around 30 areas nationwide on Tuesday (Aug 25) as it grapples with haze linked to fires in neighbouring Indonesia.Twenty-nine areas had unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings as of 2pm, the Department of Environment, under Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, said in a statement posted Tuesday afternoon on Facebook.The highest API reading of 182 was recorded at Serian district police headquarters monitoring station in Sarawak. This was followed by Johan Setia in Selangor at 173 and Sri Aman in Sarawak at 170.Under Malaysia’s API scale, readings from 0 to 50 are classified as good, 51 to 100 as moderate, 101 to 200 as unhealthy, 201 to 300 as very unhealthy and above 300 as hazardous. Shah Alam recorded an API reading of 162 while Kuching registered 160. Other areas with unhealthy air quality included Tanjung Malim at 157 and Taiping at 155, both in Perak.A monitoring station in Kuala Lumpur recorded an API reading of 154 while in Johor, Segamat, Batu Pahat and Tangkak each registered readings of 152.Another 38 monitoring stations recorded moderate air quality.
